Worried About Turf, Chiefs' Group Faults 2 Teaching Report Proposals

Education organizations are still
digesting last fall's weighty report from the National Commission on
Teaching & America's Future. Now, six months after the release of
"What Matters Most: Teaching For America's Future," one leading group
of policymakers finds parts of its recipe for high-quality teaching
unpalatable.

The board of directors of the Council of Chief State School
Officers, while supporting most of the commission's general
recommendations, disagrees with two points that have long exposed fault
lines in the teaching profession. They also encroach on state education
departments' territory.

First, the CCSSO board does not support the commission's contention
that every teacher education program or institution should be
accredited by the National Commission for Accreditation of Teacher
Education. A March statement by the board of directors says the chiefs'
group supports the NCATE standards, but believes that "these need not
be enforced by one accrediting agency. State agencies can also apply
such standards."

The commission's report argues that instead of approving teacher
education programs--an activity it calls "redundant" because of
national accreditation--states should focus their resources on
administering high-quality licensing tests that measure candidates'
ability to teach.

Second, the chiefs disagree that states should establish independent
"standards boards" to make decisions about teacher education,
licensing, and professional development. Instead, the CCSSO statement
argues that state education agencies should be responsible for both
student and teacher standards and for ensuring that they are
compatible.

While the leader of the nation's largest teachers' union talks of
redefining its role in education reform, education watchers question
whether anything will change on the local front.

Supporters and skeptics debated the future of teachers' unions this
month as part of the Education Writers Association national conference
in Washington.

Bob Chase, the president of the National Education Association, said
during the debate that he wants the organization to become more
involved in helping states improve student achievement and teacher
training.

Mr. Chase noted that his members are "committed to building a new
union, but sailing on uncharted waters" and bound to make a few
mistakes.

But Chester E. Finn Jr., the president of the Washington-based
Thomas B. Fordham Foundation, which underwrites K-12 education
projects, compared today's teachers' unions to the automobile industry
of the 1970s: big, bureaucratized, and heavily unionized.

And for all the NEA headquarters' talk about change, he said, the
group's local affiliates have not gotten the message.

But Mr. Chase gave one signal that the union may be serious. He
announced that the NEA board had voted to encourage its affiliates to
consider peer monitoring and review by teachers. The union's
representative assembly will vote on the measure at its annual
convention in July.

Mr. Finn said that unions eventually will have to accept proposed
reforms, such as charter schools. And if they do not, "we will have
education reform anyway, and it will be a lot bloodier."

When it came to mathematics, reading, and science, Kika Wilson was
happy with the education three of her children were getting at Woodlake
Elementary School in California's San Fernando Valley. But she felt
that they were missing out in art class. Although the 600 students at
the school were learning arts and crafts, there was little formal
instruction in fine arts.

Ms. Wilson, who was a folklore teacher in her native Mexico, decided
to do something about it. This year, she organized more than two dozen
parents, gathered books and materials on the master painters and art
history, sought donated art supplies, and got permission to teach art
to each class for at least one hour a week.

"Reading and math and spelling aren't the only things they need to
learn," said Ms. Wilson, the mother of five.

Ms. Wilson and Michele Young, a parent who has helped organize and
teach the volunteers, provide workshops to help parents create new
lesson plans.

While most of the parents teach one or two classes a week, Ms.
Wilson teaches five or more. "I just strap my 8-month-old baby on my
back and go teach class."

California educators have released a comprehensive strategic plan to
recruit critically needed new teachers.

The plan, drafted by a statewide task force of educators, aims to
address the vast teacher demand created by increases in student
population and the state's class-size-reduction mandate. ("Class-Size Cuts in Calif. Bring Growing
Pains," April 30, 1997.)

Created in conjunction with the Belmont, Mass.-based nonprofit group
Recruiting New Teachers Inc., the plan calls for expanding the pool of
prospective teachers with outreach and assistance activities, an
expansion of alternative training efforts, and an easing of transfer
restrictions for teachers trained in other states.

One recommendation is the creation of a "one-stop shopping" source
where potential teachers would be able to obtain information and
counseling about teacher requirements, preparation programs, and job
opportunities.